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Timeline of Toril
This is a rough timeline that notes the events that have transpired Toril, beginning at the departure of the Old Gods and the Rupture, which was the name given to when the world of Abeir-Toril was split into two separate worlds, Abeir and Toril. Most of the events to have transpired on Toril have stemmed from the supercontinent of Faerûn, though some events may have potentially come from Kara-Tur or Maztica. The God Wars (0 G.W. - 999 G. W.) The God Wars, also known as the Thousand-Year War, was a war that began the day Toril came under the rule of the New Gods. Upon the departure of the Old Gods, the New Gods, or the Gods of Toril, had been created to watch over the aspects of life, death, the elements, the arcane, and so on. Hundreds, if not thousands of these gods had been created to take the place of the Old Gods, but their duties were not unique to one another, and since they were created from mortal races, conflict arose when one god sought superiority over another. The most notable example of this is the legends of the eternal conflict between siblings Bahamut and Tiamat, with Tiamat desiring to control all of dragonkind, and Bahamut desiring to bring balance to all of dragonkind. The God Wars was a time where the mortal races banded together based upon their religion and who they worshiped, as opposed to their race. Very few religions came to be based on race, such as the purely-orcish following of the orc god Gruumsh, but this was expected from a god whose sole focus was to lead the orc race specifically. This era was fought with what little magic the mortal races had access to, but more prominently it was fought with weapons adorned to symbolize their respected deity. 0 G.W. At the dawn of the God Wars, countless deities arose as the Old Gods saw fit. However, it was possible that some of these deities attained their divine power through other means, such as stumbling across a powerful Old God relic, imbuing them with powerful essence. In the beginnings of the God Wars, there were many casualties of not just godly proportions, but catastrophic mortal proportions. 2 G.W. Asgorath, also known as Io, but more importantly recognized as the Creator of Dragonkind, creates the entirety of the dragon race, as well as creating the dragonborn, crafting the foundations of the lizardfolk, and instilling everything draconic into the world. As much as they'd like to believe, the kobolds also are under the impression that Asgorath created them. 80 G.W. Almost a century into the God Wars, the deities of law proposed the creation of a pantheon early on. Oftentimes, those that proposed the pantheon were killed before they could enact such a law, but as more mortals heard of this pursuit, their worship grew strong for those involved. 362 G.W. Nearing the middle of the war, with several generations passing, the devotion of certain deities grew stronger. It was believed that showing faith for your god would grant you with immense power in trying times. This belief forged a mortal war between the races, as they wanted their god to be the one to rule Toril. 453 G.W. Legends split this piece of history in two directions. What is for certain is that Orcus had made some offer to Asgorath, and the Creator of Dragonkind declined the offer. This upset Orcus, and so he killed the dragon god. What came of this is unclear, however. Some claim that Asgorath was split in two, becoming Bahamut and Tiamat, while others say Asgorath was simply just killed, and is survived by its three children; Bahamut, Tiamat, and Null. Because of the mysterious and questionable nature of Null, however, it is more commonly accepted that Asgorath indeed split into the two aspects of the dragon gods. 650 G.W. Two-thirds of the way into the war, it was realized by the deities that some of them will be locked in an eternal conflict, and rather than waste the time of their worshipers in fighting out this war, they were the ones to enact bringing back the idea of a pantheon. As the gods became less involved in the war, they felt an action such as this was appropriate so the mortals would not kill themselves out. 940 G.W. The number of deities left in Toril had diminished greatly towards the end of the war, and to prevent any more loss, the Pantheon of Toril was officially created. Alongside this pantheon, each deity was given their own respectable domain within the newly-created Outer Planes, with each plane representing some form of psychological or physical law in the Multiverse. 957 G.W. Not long after the creation of the Outer Planes, a mad god, whose name was lost to time, desired to have a world like Toril all to himself. He took upon a small essence from Toril, and imbued it with the energies of Limbo, and he forged a brand new planet, a new material plane, within the Multiverse. To prevent curious adventurers from stumbling across this mysterious new plane, the pantheon sealed it off in a pocket dimension, but this did not prevent other gods or beings from taking influence. 989 G.W. As the war was officially ending, it was established that certain deities would be aligned with certain mindsets. Because of this, the concept of good and evil energies was discovered by a wary priest, who had suspected that his apprentice was turning to worship a demon. These good and evil energies were a chaotic and naturally-occurring magical essence found within all living beings, with the ability to be traced through nonliving material. This astounding discovery reignited the war briefly, as masters and apprentices, husbands and wives, and siblings of all kinds discovered the evil intentions of their counterparts, while remaining positively good. The Dragon Age (0 D.A. - 3,000 D.A.) The Dragon Age '''was a long period in history that is often unaccounted for, even if it was the time in which many great events shook Toril. The Dragon Age a time in which dragons ruled every corner of the world, opposed only by few for various reasons. The Dragon Age was responsible for future events that would overcome Toril, such as the Second Sundering of Faerûn, the return of Tiamat, the Century Storm, and the rise of the Archmage Keridan. The Dragon Age signified the reign of the dragons, and it also saw the rise of magic use. During this time, those that possessed the ability to wield magic were seen as insane and unstable, and many wizards at the time, whether true or not, were oftentimes seen as evil and scheming. The rest of wars were fought out with crude weapons of bronze and iron, with the more expensive steel weapons and armor being given to the highest ranking in an army. 0 D.A. The start of the Dragon Age began when the God Wars ended, Bahamut was demoted to a demigod, and Tiamat was sealed within Limbo. Even as a demigod, Bahamut's metallic dragons swept the world with divine glory, and it was finally a time of peace. This time of peace would carry on for the next five centuries, lasting through generations long enough that the concept of war or violence was almost never a thought to be had. 501 D.A. Tiamat, sealed within her prison in the chaotic plane of Limbo, awoke her chromatic dragons, and desired chaos to be spread among Bahamut's perfect world. The pantheon of Toril did not notice this happening, and so chaos ensued. The ensuing war that broke out were the beginning stages of the First Sundering of Faerûn. 508 D.A. The arrival of the angered chromatic dragons brought grief upon the defenseless world. Many of the metallic dragons died in the onslaught, and the mortal races lost hope, so much so that they began to join the side of evil, and served as minions for dragon rulers and tyrants. This plummeted Toril into a dark period, as the chromatic dragons fought in large numbers against the unprepared metallic dragons. 526 D.A. The First Sundering of Faerûn took place, where the earth trembled and the waves crashed against the surface, opening chasms into the Underdark and flooding major lowlands. This catastrophic event began the arrival of the illithids, or mind flayers, who had been trapped within the Underdark for millennia. 528 D.A. Bahamut used his power to push the world into a neutral balance, where both the metallic and chromatic dragons were forced to live in a perpetual state of bitter resentment. This forced balance struck negatively with those that had sided with the chromatic dragons and were forced under their rule for so long, and so resistance groups and cults were formed under the leadership of great chromatic dragons, typically in the name of Tiamat, but these groups got nowhere. 2163 D.A. A mad wizard's dabbling in the powers of the Elemental Chaos resulted in an anomaly that lingered over Toril for many years to come, which would later bring on the Century Storm. This mad wizard was named to be Gylan the Terrible, and his frequent exposure to the Elemental Chaos twisted his form to be inhuman, this soon became a point of worship for Gylan, who was seen as an enabler for much greater wizards. 2175 D.A. After opening a rift to the Shadowfell and unleashing too much dark energy into Toril, Gylan came under harsh scrutiny from the gods of law for harming the material plane. When Gylan had lead a gathering of wild chromatic dragons into the rift, he soon also came under the watchful eye of Bahamut. 2198 D.A. Nearing the end of Gylan the Terrible's life, he was searching for a way to prolong death. He disguised himself as someone else, and misguided several great wizards into forming a pact. Gylan suspected that to attain immortality, he must construct a monument to the gods, and so him and his wizard pact constructed the Shaeradim. When the gods took notice of Gylan's attempts to achieve immortality, they threatened him to take down the Shaeradim or force to be cursed for all eternity. 2199 D.A. Gylan ignored the gods for as long as he possibly could, still searching for the key to immortality, but without warning, as he pondered at the Shaeradim, he was met by one of the gods, who told him that the threats were not a joke, and he was transformed into a great tree, forced to watch over the Shaeradim forever. When the wizards of Gylan's pact learned of what his plot was, they decided to change the Shaeradim's purpose. 2317 D.A. The Grand Archmages of Toril, the wizards that used to be part of Gylan's pact, had turned the Shaeradim from a monument into a center of absolute arcane power. The tree which was Gylan was appropriately deemed the Gylan Tree, and the entire Shaeradim came to act as a shield for Toril, preventing the arrival of undesirable extraplanar entities. 2865 D.A. The Grand Archmages of Toril mysteriously disappear, but the Shaeradim and the Gylan Tree remain. This roughly marks the end of the Dragon Age, although it would go on for another two hundred years at least as the neutrality between dragonkind remains. Before Current Era (3,000 B.C. - 1 B.C.) Although it is the same length as the Dragon Age, the period before what is known as the Current Era is referred to as the '''Before Current Era, abbreviated in texts as BCE, or simply BC. It is unclear what signified the beginning of this era, which is separate from the Dragon Age, though many believe it to be the beginnings of the highly influential and most important figure in Toril history, the Archmage Keridan. This era notably marked the beginning of a reform in the standards of combat, with magic becoming commonplace following the waning years of the Dragon Age, and steel weapons becoming abundant enough for everyone to possess even simple ones. These standards would go on to become what is best known as the modern age of battle, and in the middle of this era, magic was beginning to be wielded as a weapon on grand levels. 3000 B.C. The supposed beginnings of the BCE, this time interjected the Dragon Age, and it was when Keridan, soon to be Archmage Keridan, began his investigations on the Shaeradim. 2913 B.C. The Red Plague, a devastating, near world-ending plague, appears spontaneously and begins to wipe out most of Faerûn in the horrific manner of turning them into highly infectious undead rather rapidly. Clerics and healers scramble in an attempt to find the source and cure for the plague, but to no avail. 2867 B.C. This year marked a pivotal shift in the detainment of highly dangerous individuals. Limbo was no place for prisoners, as its twisting and chaotic nature allowed the evil entity Sargaer'ionath to escape and wreak havoc on the citizens of Faerûn. The prisoners held within Limbo, including the evil dragon goddess Tiamat, had been relocated to Toril's first moon, Minas. 2632 B.C. The fabled Skyship Sovereign goes missing. It is believed to have either crashed when it made a planar jump, or it made the jump and got itself stuck in the fabric between the planes, ceasing to exist entirely. The Planardrive technology is then used in individual research by artificers and grand wizards across the world. 1976 B.C. The Skyship Weatherlight's construction begins. Archmage Keridan hears of the project, and takes great interest in it, and is offering to lend his arcane prowess in the construction of the airship. His offer is turned down rather aggressively. 1962 B.C. The Skyship Weatherlight is finally complete, but its existence is hidden from the rest of the world, and it is used to conduct secret missions by its creators. When it is seen in public, it is passed off as any ordinary airship. 1289 B.C. Tensions between the Southern Sword Coast and the rest of the Coast increase drastically, with the Southern Sword Coast's reliance on slavery conflicting the beliefs and opinions of the majority of the Sword Coast's government, let alone populace. These practices would continue under the name of the Sword Coast for at least another three hundred years before they're finally put to trial. 809 B.C. The Southern Sword Coast's lifelong slaving industry is put to an abrupt stop when the government of the Sword Coast demands them to stop, unless they seek drastic measures. They respond by announcing independence from the Sword Coast, and so they form the Free Nation of Amn, a rebellious nation bent on opposing everything the Sword Coast stood for. Consequently, the Sword Coast government exiles them from the country. 594 B.C. The war between the Sword Coast and Amn finally begins. This war, even in the current period, still appears to have not ended. During this war, Amn has been responsible for the assassination of at least three kings of Baldur's Gate, while the Sword Coast is responsible for the trade embargo on Amn, with a blockade preventing resources from arriving to the nation on all sides. 310 B.C. Archmage Keridan notes that the seal binding Tiamat to Minas is weakening, and he begins to doubt the Shaeradim's effectiveness. 299 B.C. The Century Storm begins. For the next one-hundred years, Toril will be battered repeatedly by catastrophic thunderstorms, hurricanes, blizzards, violent winds, and spontaneous flooding. This storm thinned the population in some areas by a lot, and many considered this event to be the beginnings of the Second Sundering of Faerûn. 199 B.C. The Century Storm finally ends, with many civilizations attempting to rebuild from the aftermath. 80 B.C. Keridan goes missing. Many become suspicious that the Archmage had finally died. 45 B.C. The Scarhunter Organization forms, and it begins hunting down the ones known as the Scarred Children, who are people born with or those that acquire the spellscars that Gylan the Terrible had forced into the world. 36 B.C. The Order of the Paryborn is formed by Gren Paryborn, and it seeks to refuge those with spellscars, as well as acting as an adventuring guild. 15 B.C. The war between Amn and the Sword Coast is put on a loose peace treaty. 2 B.C. A devious plot known as the Sundering of Faerûn, or just "the Sundering", is formed by restless and resentful Underdark denizens, namely the drow in particular. This event would go on to be the Second Sundering of Faerûn, and while not on as much as a catastrophic level as the First Sundering, the implications that it could have been more severe outweigh what actually transpired. Current Era (0 C.E. - Onward) The '''Current Era '''is the name given to the time period which exists in the present. At some point, at least three thousand years into the future, the era may be given its own title in history books, but given that the Before Current Era has not been given its own unique title, it is believed that either the Current Era may never end, or someone will simply come up with another title for future eras. As far as changes between the Before Current Era and the Current Era goes, not much has happened. The standards of war have not evolved by any means, and many scholars believe that they have unlocked or discovered all that is possible with their grasp of the arcane arts. It wasn't until the death of one of the gods of Toril that spawned the appearance of the Astralborn that scholars believed there was anything left to learn. 0 C.E. The Sundering of Faerûn, or the Second Sundering of Faerûn, becomes a public issue. The plot is eventually lead by the drow Naz'lethch, and later the tiefling Frosa, and is put to an end by the famed Heroes of Faerûn, which began as a ragtag group of adventurers lead by the late William Garrix, who was the commander of the shattered Order of the Paryborn. This would grow to be one of the largest events to take effect in the span of a single year, and is widely believed to be the dawn of the fall of Toril, likely with the Century Storm marking the first event that lead to the plane's downfall. This is also the same year that Keridan had returned, after being missing for nearly one hundred years. 1 C.E. The Heroes of Faerûn kill Naz'lethch, stop the Sundering plot, and manage to banish Frosa to the Nine Hells. Unfortunately, this has lead to the death of Keridan, and the collapse of the Shaeradim. With the Shaeradim's collapse, people begin to believe that Toril will be invaded by extraplanar entities now, and they begin to fear for the worst. 2 C.E. Tiamat grows restless, and a cult devoted to freeing her from her prison on Minas begins to form. This cult grows in power all across Faerûn, but it mostly gravitates towards the Well of Dragons, which acts as the seat of Tiamat. 5 C.E. Tiamat begins to break free from Minas, with her presence invigorating chromatic dragons all across Toril to bring destruction down upon the mortal races. It is also during this time that Frosa is reborn, and she reappears in the ruins of the Shaeradim. She sets out for Anauroch, and subsequently takes over the city of Ankar by posing as their god. 6 C.E. The Skyship Weatherlight flies again, and the Heroes of Faerûn destroy Tiamat, banishing her to the Nine Hells indefinitely. During this time, Minas collapses on itself due to Tiamat's presence, but then reincarnates itself. This reincarnation takes place silently for the next hundred years. 8 C.E. The Star of Calybryn, a famous meteor said to streak the sky every five hundred years, crashes into the High Forest unexpectedly, gathering attention from a majority of the Sword Coast. Emerging from the Star is the Lord of Time, Zyramon, who then reforms the Heroes of Faerûn. He tells them that he has come from an alternate future where the demon goddess Frosa rules over the world, and that they must put a stop to her deeds. The Heroes of Faerûn take the Skyship Weatherlight to Ankar to face Frosa, but the Weatherlight and its crew are destroyed, leaving the Heroes to face the goddess alone. They defeat Frosa, but not without bearing casualties, and she is banished once again. Believing that Frosa only returned because of the Shaeradim's fall, Zyramon uses his powers to revert time on the Shaeradim, reversing its destruction and returning it to what it once stood as. This marks the official end of the Heroes of Faerûn, who hope others will continue their legacy. 87 C.E. Seven powerful wizards and lords of the north seek ultimate power, and so they dabble in necromancy and become extremely powerful liches, calling themselves the Night Lords. 140 C.E. An organization known as the Hand of God mysteriously rises out of nowhere, and they worship a single god. They become conquerors, and begin spreading their religion to every city they take over, almost encompassing the entirety of the Sword Coast. The pantheon of Toril suspects something odd happening with this organization, but don't care enough to dabble in it. 151 C.E. An unknown assassin has been slaying the gods of Toril, or at least their avatars, so they must reform in their domains, bringing imbalance to the Multiverse, and only furthering the Hand of God's goals. 159 C.E. The unknown assassin is confirmed to have been killed, or at least imprisoned in the Nine Hells. 248 C.E. The seal on Frosa's prison begins to break, but because of the existence of the Shaeradim, everyone is at peace. 250 C.E. Frosa escapes from her prison.